Albus Potter and the Cunning Plan

Chapter four

Author: lunadeath02

Pairing(s): Albus/Scorpius (will become), other minor ones

Rating: PG-13 (might go up in later chapters, depending on the context and plot)

Warnings: slight language, some canon is ignored; OCs for story's sake; minor angst and some violence, about what you might find in the average HP book.

Spoilers: All seven books

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and its characters belong to JK Rowling and Warner Brothers, etc. But the original characters in here are mine. Don't use them without my permission.

.-.

Tryouts and Trials

It was October, and the Quidditch tryouts were underway. Albus knew he couldn't partake in them, but he wanted to watch them nonetheless. The first weekend of the month was reserved for the Gryffindor team. James was captain, and therefore was in charge of watching each applicant try out for their preferred positions. One of their Chasers had left, so they went with those trying out for that position first. It was no surprise, really, when it was declared that Kevin Mars was made their new Chaser. Gareth Jupitus was able to retain his spot as Beater, as did Richard Sloper. The other Chasers, Ulla Hunt and Edward Trapper, were also kept on. Their Keeper, Arwin Wood, was still better than any of the other candidates.

He had to admit, he was a little in awe of his brother with the way he handled everything. It was no wonder he'd been made Captain. He was also brilliant as the Gryffindor Seeker. There was no way anyone from Gryffindor could match his skills.

Of course, Albus was rather good at that position too. Whenever James opted to play another position back home, like Chaser or Keeper, Al was usually made Seeker. Whenever that happened, they usually won. James didn't admit it aloud how pleased he was with his little brother's abilities, but Al could still see it in his face. Remembering the times they had together, before he'd been sorted, made Al painfully nostalgic.

He'd noticed Harold Knight watching the tryouts too, and that he'd noticed Al, but they didn't say anything to each other. Knight just smiled slightly, as if amused that Al was even there. Albus had just raised an eyebrow.

Not even a week later, it was the Slytherin captain's turn to do tryouts. Albus watched those as well, seeing how it was his house's team (and that he was hoping to get on the team next year). The captain this year was Spica Baddock, Starla's big sister, whom had been captain last year too from what he'd heard. She was just as awe-inspiring as James had been, and she found some good replacement members too.

Owain Thickey, to their misfortune, made the cut again and was able to retain his position as the Slytherin Seeker. The Proudfoot twins were also no match for anyone else that tried out for the Beater position. When they'd seen that Thickey was still their Seeker, one of them (or possibly both) had hit a Bludger straight at Thickey as he was just landing after catching the Snitch. It had nearly taken one of his ears off.

Spica Baddock blew the whistle that was around her neck. "Oi, none of that! We don't want our Seeker out of commission for our training session."

"We want Potter!" the Proudfoot twins began to chant, and the rest of the team, minus Thickey, took it up. It grew louder and louder, until Baddock got extremely frustrated and blew her whistle. The team slowly grew silent.

"That's enough! I understand your frustrations—" Thickey harrumphed at that. "—but it isn't something that can be helped. I've tried talking with the Headmistress about it yesterday, but she won't allow it. If she were to let Potter try out for Seeker, then she'd have to allow other first years to try, thus breaking the no-first-years rule. It's not that she isn't sympathetic about it, it's just that it would become too much of a headache to deal with all the backlash and—"

"But why?" one of the Proudfoot twins said. "Harry Potter was allowed when McGonagall saw him fly!"

Baddock sighed. "I don't know. I'll speak with our head of house about it, but I doubt that he'd be able to make her budge on the subject. For now, we'll just have to do what we can with who we have. Our team is pretty strong, considering. Trust me, the only real competition we'll have is from the Gryffindors. Even the Ravenclaws don't look too worrisome this year." She then beckoned them closer to stage whisper: "Corona Bradley is still the captain of their team."

The Slytherin team nodded and hummed as they shared an understanding. Albus himself was lost. Was this Corona Bradley not much of a threat to them?

Finally, after doing the Keeper tryouts and ending up with the same Keeper as last year (Cepheus Pucey), Spica blew her whistle again and announced, "That's it; we've got our team! Now hit the showers!"

They trudged off slowly as they obeyed their captain, Thickey lagging behind. Albus felt sorry for him and almost went to talk to him, but decided he needed to get back to the castle himself; it had started to rain.

.-.

Two weeks went by without much incident. Albus was mostly concerned about his homework, and making sure he kept the letters he sent home as vague as possible. There had been one letter from Dad that had actually mentioned the Sorting.

No one is telling me anything, Dad had written, and Al could feel the exasperation in his handwriting. Were you Sorted into Gryffindor or not? Rose isn't saying anything about it; and neither, surprisingly, is James. What's going on?

Albus had to reply with something, but he'd still kept it ambiguous. He wrote something like: You'll find out soon. A surprise for the Christmas Holidays. The subject was thankfully dropped, although from what Dad had told him in his next letter, Mum was more annoyed that he wasn't forthcoming than Dad was. Not telling anyone about his Sorting was beginning to worry a few family members, too. Dad had told him, in his last owl, that Grandmum was beside herself with worry.

She thinks you're so ashamed for not being Sorted into Gryffindor that you're too afraid to tell us.

Well, she had it partially right. Fear wasn't a major factor in keeping tight-lipped, but it was at the top of the list. The more Albus had thought on it the more he knew that he'd been mostly afraid of letting Dad down. Secretly, he couldn't care less about what the rest of his family thought.

Although, that was somewhat of a lie. He did care what Mum, his aunts, and uncles thought. He had a feeling that Uncle Ron would moan and groan about it ("oh bloody hell, a Slytherin in the family! Harry, I'd disown him if I were you…"), but would come around after his dad had words with him. Aunt Hermione would be okay with it, he was sure. With any luck, they'd be too busy fawning over Rose.

James had come up to him one time during breakfast to tell him how Mum was trying to needle information out of him about Al's Sorting, but as promised he hadn't told her or Dad.

"I want to see their reactions too," he admitted after Al thanked him and then asked him why he'd kept his promise. "It wouldn't be as much fun telling them by owl, because then we could only imagine the looks on their faces. Doing it this way, we'll be there to see it—it'll be a laugh!"

James and Rose even got their other relatives to stay silent about it. Albus was relieved, and maybe a little shocked. He had no idea that he had such loyal family members. Well, if that was what was keeping them from telling anyway; Albus had a feeling that it was mostly because they wanted to see the shocked looks on the adults' faces too.

What was even more surprising was that Scorpius hadn't even told his dad about Al's Sorting.

"Just trying to be careful," he'd told Al when Al asked. "You never know; your father might actually get curious enough to ask my father, then it would be ruined. Besides," Scorpius said, holding a laugh, "I want to see Father's reaction too, when I get off the train with you by my side. He knows that I have a best friend already"—here Albus fought off a blush—"but I never told him just who it was, and so far he'd never asked."

Being sneaky like this was actually fun. Even if he had others in on the secret, it was still enjoyable. Albus had even told the Proudfoot twins what he was doing, after they'd caught wind of some of it. They liked the idea, so they promised to head others off at the past if they got a whiff of an information leak. Pretty soon, it seemed that nearly all of Slytherin House was in on it. Even their Head of House had asked Headmistress McGonagall to not say a word to the Potter family. She didn't understand the need to keep Al's Sorting a secret, but promised to do so anyway. From what Al had heard, there apparently had been a vote taken from all the teachers and staff members, and McGonagall was outnumbered.

It wasn't until the last Potions class before Halloween when something disrupted Albus' routine. He had just finished up on his potion, as had Scorpius (they didn't have partners this time, but still sat beside each other during class), and was cleaning up his equipment at the sink when there was a commotion behind him.

Knight and Scorpius were on the floor, grappling, their wands a foot away, and some spilled potion had splattered on their robes in their tussle. Professor d'Eath was on the scene immediately after they had fallen, but he hadn't pulled out his wand. Instead, the professor separated them with strength alone; yanking them free from each other by the scruff of their collars.

"What is the meaning of this?" Professor d'Eath bellowed, cheeks blazing in anger. "There is no call for such nonsense in my classroom! Ten points from each of you!"

"But, Professor!" Scorpius gasped. "He started it."

"I did not," Harold Knight denied vehemently. "His whole family—!"

"Enough!" Professor d'Eath growled. He set the two down heavily onto their feet, and they wobbled at the sudden release, having not expected it. "I won't tolerate such behavior in my class. And I don't care who started it; fighting is forbidden. Now put your things away and go cool off your heads in your common rooms."

That seemed to have been the end of that, but the moment they were released and making their way back to their seats, Knight said something horrible to Scorpius, something about his father or something that Albus didn't quite catch, and then Scorpius made to pull his wand out. Albus didn't want his friend to get into any more trouble than he was already in, so he quickly moved to stand in front of Scorpius to shield him. Knight, meanwhile, had taken out his own wand and sent a muttered curse toward him. He'd been aiming to hit Scorpius, but it never touched his intended target.

The teacher saw it. Albus didn't know that the teacher was watching, however, and in his anger Albus punched Knight. The curse Knight had sent his way did nothing but rustle his robes a bit. Scorpius had leaped out of the way, fearing he'd get cursed.

"Detention, Mr Potter!" Professor d'Eath shouted. "And you as well, Mr Knight. I honestly don't know what is going on through your little heads, but let's hope that a night in the Forbidden Forest helping Hagrid will sort you two out!"

.-.

Albus was shocked to be actually receiving detention from his own Head of House, but he had to admit that it was fair; he had punched Knight on the nose after all. Still, however much Knight deserved it, he realized after he'd cooled down some that it had been a mistake. Not only were his parents going to be told about it (thankfully by McGonagall and not the head of Slytherin House, so his secret was safe), and that it was his first detention of the year, but he had to put up with Hagrid, the spooky forest, and Knight during it.

And he'd acted like a flaming Gryffindor, again!

Harold Knight, unfortunately, wasn't letting him forget it either.

"And they all thought I was hotheaded," Knight was saying, sounding more like he was boasting than stating a fact. His nose, which had been bleeding a little when Al hit him, had been fixed by the nurse before they left for Hagrid's hut. The only good thing that happened was that it wasn't Filch that led them, but the Head boy (who was a Hufflepuff). Filch, apparently, hadn't the energy anymore to be up so late at night.

"You can shut up now," Al said through the side of his mouth. "Before I decide to give you a black eye."

"See, there you go again. I never met such a brash Slytherin before. Are you sure you were Sorted into the right house?"

"Shut up," Al said, his face burning. He hated being reminded about the fact that he wasn't a Gryffindor like his parents. Although he had a couple things about him that might be considered Gryffindor-ish, he still felt he didn't belong in that house. He refused to feel guilty about urging the Sorting Hat to not put him there. He was an ambitious, cunning, creative, and resourceful lad, and he was damn proud of it!

When they reached the hut and Hagrid came out with Fang at his heels and a crossbow in his hands, Knight fell silent. Albus's stomach dropped to the vicinity of his shoes. Just what were they going to be doing in the Forest that caused Hagrid to arm himself?

"There you lot are," Hagrid said. "I bin waitin' fer ya. Right, well, let's get cracking then. Thanks, Edward."

"You're welcome, Hagrid," said the Head boy. "Do you want me to stick around?"

"Nah, it's fine. I'll see that they get back all right."

Albus couldn't suppress his shiver. It was a cold and cloudy night, and he could hardly make out the entrance into the Forbidden Forest. He'd heard some bad things had happened in there, and he really didn't want to find out if what his relatives had said were true.

"Now then," Hagrid said, lifting his lantern up to see them better, his crossbow pointed toward the ground. "I want you two ter follow me. Stick close and don't do anythin' foolish. The forest is a bit more dangerous at night."

"Do we really need to go in there, Hagrid?" Albus asked, shivering a little. It was from both the cold and nerves.

"Scared?" Knight whispered beside him. Albus shot him a glare, which he ignored.

"Come on," Hagrid said, as if he hadn't heard anything. Albus wasn't sure if he even had; he was getting on in age a bit. "Follow me. You'll be helping me gather bits o' ingredients fer Professor d'Eath. He'll be needing 'em fer his sixth and seventh year classes."

Albus hurried along behind Hagrid, hoping that if anything did pop out of the trees he'd be well-protected by a Hagrid-sized shield. Knight, showing that he was indeed a Gryffindor, walked alongside Hagrid, but not real close. How could he not be scared of entering a place like this? The path they followed was narrow, and winding, and seemed to disappear into the trees. It was too silent for Al's liking, and too dark. He wished the clouds would part so that they'd have at least a little moonlight. Not that he was afraid of the dark; he just didn't like the thought of what could be out there in the forest that he couldn't see.

"I wish I were more knowledgeable about spells," he muttered to himself. "I wish I knew everything about this forest… I wish Scorpius was with me right now instead of this reckless, moronic Gryffindor… I wish I hadn't got detention… I wish… I wish Dad were here…"

"There we are then," Hagrid said, his booming voice startling Albus so much he nearly jumped out of his skin. Hagrid steadied him with a large hand and then guided him more forward to where he was shining his light. "Knotgrass, lovage, and nettles. Yer gonna need these bags 'ere," he said, producing a few medium-sized sacks from his pockets, "and these labels to put on 'em so that we know which are which. Right, then, get ter work—I'll be over there, checkin' the fluxweed to see if it's growing well."

Other than being a shivering, anxious wreck, Albus quickly became bored of the job. The knotgrass liked to tangle itself around his ankles and also his wrists when he bent down to pick some. The nettles would hurt if he picked them the wrong way. And the lovage… well, nothing really happened when picking them, which was why he was able to gather more of that particular plant than the others.

Knight moaned and complained more than Al did, though. Al suffered through his detention in silence, not wanting to give the Gryffindor any ammo against him. He wished Knight would shut up; it was really irritating.

A half hour later, when Al declared himself done, mainly because he was tired and sore and not because he was annoyed with Knight, Al realized that he hadn't seen Hagrid since they'd started. In fact, the entire forest seemed almost… dead.

A sound in the distance made Al jump. He nervously searched the area to locate the source, but couldn't see anything. Knight didn't seem as if he heard anything. Maybe he was just too on edge because it was dark and unfamiliar. But then another much louder noise startled Albus so much that he moved closer to Knight.

"What's the matter with you?" Knight said, almost laughing. "You didn't piss yourself, did you?"

"Didn't you hear that?" Al said, shivering.

"Hear what?" Knight said, amused. "You Slytherins sure are a jumpy lot."

"You didn't hear that roar?" Al said incredulous. "You must have heard it!"

"It's your imagination," said Knight. "C'mon, let's get this last bag of knotgrass filled before Hagrid returns."

"That's just it," Al said. "Where is Hagrid? He's been gone an awful long time. What if… what if that thing I heard got him?"

Knight laughed. "What, Hagrid? He's half-giant! Not much hurts him, which I'm sure you already know. Whatever it is I'm sure Hagrid's got it under control."

Yes, thought Albus, but he recalled the stories he'd been told when he was younger; how some stunner spells had just bounced off Hagrid, and how certain monsters that were dangerous to a normal person weren't much of a threat to the half-giant. Still, he was sure there were things in the Forbidden Forest that could do Hagrid some harm. Werewolves, for one.

"Yeah… maybe you're right."

"Of course I am," Knight said. Albus rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, you're not conceited at all."

"I—look out!" Knight yelled before pushing Albus hard. Albus went flying and landed hard on the ground just as something large, with four legs and a long tail went soaring over him.

Albus became petrified with fear when the thing landed on all fours. The head turned and it glared at Al. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Harold Knight take out his wand and point it at the creature.

If it hadn't been for the pictures in the books that his Aunt Hermione had lent him, Albus would have had no clue was to what the monster was. As it happened, he knew just what it was: a manticore.

For the life of him, he couldn't remember how to beat it. His mind had locked up and his body was frozen with fear.

"Expelliarmus!" Knight shouted. The spell bounced off its tough hide, but it did stun it for a few moments. The stunned look on the manticore must have given Knight an idea, because he tried the Stunner Spell next. That didn't do much but annoy the beast. Knight didn't have enough knowledge or power to properly execute whatever he threw at it, and was forced to dodge. Thankfully, Knight was fast and agile enough to get out of the way.

Then the manticore turned its attention back to Al. As it advanced, Al scooted quickly backwards on his elbows and feet, and then, because it started to pick up speed, Al scrambled to his feet and ran for it. He ran as hard and fast as he could, faster than he'd ever done. He rounded a tree just as it threw its tail spikes and they embedded themselves into the tree.

Albus tripped on a root and went down. Bugger, he couldn't see well. The tears in his eyes had clouded his vision. The manticore was going to pounce on him any minute now and devour him, and all because he'd gone and lost his temper when he should have just ignored Knight's taunts….

"Incarcerous!" bellowed someone a few feet away, and the manticore went down as its four legs were tied up with rope. It crashed right near Al, shaking the ground. It smacked its head on a nearby boulder that was half covered with moss and was knocked out. Relief spread through Al first, and then the realization that he could have died thundered through him and he started to shake and cry even harder.

"Al! Al, are you all 'ight?" Hagrid said. He gathered Al up into his arms and Al curled into Hagrid as if he were forcing himself not to vomit.

"Oh, Hagrid—" Al choked. He couldn't stop crying. He felt like such a baby, but he couldn't help it.

"Come on, let's get you back ter the school," Hagrid said, and Al noted that Hagrid's voice was shaking.

"Will he be all right?" Knight asked. He sounded out of breath.

"He will be, thanks to you, Harold," Hagrid said. "Good thing you thought to shoot red sparks into the air to alert me. Blimey…"

"What exactly was that thing?" Knight asked as they made their way out of the forest.

"A manticore," Hagrid said. "But it wasn't a fully grown one."

"That was a manticore?" Knight gasped. "But what's it doing in here? I thought there were none in this forest."

Hagrid said slowly, "Er, well—"

"Hagrid, you didn't!" Knight said.

Albus was also shocked. How could the Headmistress let Hagrid get away with owning something as dangerous as a manticore? It was ludicrous! Al was no longer scared. He was furious.

"He got out of his cage," Hagrid admitted softly. "That's why I was gone fer so long… I was lookin' fer 'im."

"Maybe you should have had him on a leash, Hagrid," Knight said.

Or maybe, Al thought, Hagrid should have never owned it in the first place.

.-.

"Al!" Scorpius gasped as he ran into the hospital wing. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Al said. "Mostly just scrapes and bruises that the nurse had fixed up in the blink of an eye."

Scorpius set down a basket of flowers, some grapes, a get well soon card, and some sweets. Al's mouth nearly watered at the sight of all that chocolate. Scorpius noticed where Al's gaze was and picked up one of the Chocolate Frogs. Shyly, he handed it to Al.

"Thanks," Al said softly. Their fingers brushed when Scorpius placed it into his hand, and although it wasn't significant to Al at the moment, Scorpius took his hand away quickly, his cheeks bursting with colour. It was an odd reaction, Al thought, but his thought process was interrupted by the sound of his name.

"Al!" cried Rose as she entered the infirmary. "Oh, thank goodness you're all right. I heard Knight talking to his friend Jack Turner about what happened. Please tell me he was exaggerating. It wasn't really a-a—"

"Yeah," said Al. "A manticore."

"And it belonged to Hagrid?" she said, skeptically. "No way!"

Al nodded. "Yeah, it's his. I don't understand how McGonagall could allow him to keep such a thing, though."

"If it were me, I'd tell Father about it," Scorpius said. "That oaf has no logically sane reason to keep such a monster on school grounds. Even if it was kept in the Forbidden Forest, it was still stupid to have it in the first place where a student could get hurt."

"I'm sure Hagrid meant no harm," Rose said.

"Oh yeah," Al said, rolling his eyes. "Hagrid hadn't, but surely the manticore had. Creatures like that should never be kept as pets; it's insane."

"Maybe I will tell Father about it," Scorpius said. "Then he could get Hagrid to pay for his inanity. That might finally teach the big oaf a lesson."

"I don't think my dad would like that, though," Al said. "Although I do think the manticore should be taken from him and put with its own kind."

Rose leaned in and said softly behind her hand, "I heard Hagrid once tried to keep a dragon as a pet. It got so huge and hard to take care of that Uncle Charlie had to take it away." She leaned back and said in a more normal voice: "It's a good thing Charlie's a dragon keeper. Who knows what would have happened then?"

"A dragon as a pet sounds good when you fantasize about it," said Al, "but actually trying to tame one is crazy."

Scorpius leaned closer to Al, putting his elbows on the edge of the bed. "Al, my father will probably learn about the manticore even if I don't tell him. It's possible that our fathers might end up in a bit of a dispute over it."

"Maybe," Al said. "Although I don't know if I'd side with my dad on this."

Rose's eyes grew. "You're not seriously going to agree to fire Hagrid!"

"I never said I would agree to firing him," Al said. "Just that Hagrid was in the wrong in keeping the manticore, and that he should pay some kind of penalty."

It was unfortunate that Al had said that aloud, and in a semi-public setting, because the one person that they were hoping wouldn't be around to hear it had actually just walked in and heard them. The sound of a heavy basket hitting the floor startled them and they looked up to see a sobbing Hagrid. Al cringed in embarrassment and mortification, as did Rose, but Scorpius had a glint of something like triumph in his eyes even though he was blushing slightly too from behind overheard. The basket Hagrid had dropped had been full of flowers, candies, and other assorted get well items.

"I'm—I'm sorry to 'ear you feel that way, Al," Hagrid sniffled. "I won't bother yeh anymore and—I—" Hagrid could get anything more out, and he quickly left the hospital wing, howling the whole way.

"Hagrid!" Rose called out, but Hagrid didn't hear her. "Oh, this is not good. We shouldn't have been talking about this here; we should've waited until we were somewhere more private."

Al agreed. There was definitely going to be hell for him to pay later.

"I'm going to go talk to him," Rose said after a moment of uneasy silence. "I'll make him understand that we don't hate him."

Scorpius was about to open his mouth to make a retort, but Al smacked him on the arm and glared at him. Scorpius pouted.

"Good idea, Rose," Al said. "And tell him that I'm sorry for what I said… er, I'll apologize to him in person later, but still let him know that I'm sorry."

Rose nodded in agreement and quickly left.

Albus tried his best not to feel too horrible about what just happened. He had spoken the truth, even though it was rather hurtful. Hagrid really didn't need to keep such a dangerous creature about, and he had almost died because of it.

"Don't fret too much about it, Al," Scorpius said, patting his hand. "It's not like you knew that he would walk in while you were voicing your opinion. And anyway, you have good reason to feel that way, seeing how it nearly killed you; I mean it was really irresponsible of him to have that thing here on school grounds. He's supposed to be a teacher. He should know better."

He knew Scorpius was right, but he still felt horrible.

.-.

The next morning, Albus had a slight panic attack. He heard the nurse telling a very familiar sounding person to go back home and "to let Al rest; he's had a very trying day yesterday."

"But I must see him," Harry said. Quickly, Albus looked around the bed, thankful to see that the curtains were pulled all the way around him, and noticed that his school robes and tie were hanging on the back of the chair against the wall, where his father could see them if he turned his head a certain direction. Al forced his way out of bed, carefully moved next to the end of the curtain and whisked the green and silver clothing away behind the curtain with him. Quickly, he stuffed them under his pillow and then buried himself under his blankets again.

"I assure you, Mr Potter," the nurse said briskly. "When your son wakes up I will have him fire call you. Now, if you please—"

"You're in on it too, aren't you," Harry said, and Al could just imagine the look on Dad's face as he said it.

"I don't know what you mean, Mr Potter…"

"You're preventing me from finding out what house my son's been Sorted into. Don't deny it."

There was a pregnant pause. Then finally the nurse said, in an amused tone, "Oh, don't be absurd, sir. I have no idea what you're talking of."

Al heard Dad sighed in irritation. "Fine then, keep your secret. I really could care less." He heard his dad's footsteps come closer to the curtain and then stop almost abruptly, as if thinking. Then Harry said, "Well, I suppose I could let him sleep. I just wish I didn't have to wait until Christmas hols to know what house my own son was put into…"

After a bit more hesitation, Harry finally left via Floo. Albus let out a long sigh and rolled over. The curtain then parted, and he heard the nurse say, "You're very lucky I was here, Mr Potter. Your plan to surprise your family might have been ruined… thanks to Hagrid." She'd said the last three words softly, as if more to herself than anything. But he couldn't help agree with her.

.-.

Eventually, Al fire called his parents the next day, as promised; so he got to use the infirmary's hearth and the nurse's supply of Floo Powder. The conversation was a little stilted, and somewhat awkward in the beginning.

"You know that Hagrid would never purposely try to hurt you," his dad said. His mum wasn't by the fireplace yet, but he could hear her tinkering about in the kitchen, pots and pans banging away harder than necessary. It made him wonder just who she was angrier with.

"I know, Dad," Al said. His knees were starting to ache, having to kneel on the floor like this. "I'm still not happy about it."

"Draco Malfoy had brought it up with the governors this morning, to see what sort of damage he could do to Hagrid no doubt. Well, I put a stop to it immediately. He has no real power over what the governors could do about it, seeing how it wasn't his son."

"But, Dad, surely something must be done? I mean a manticore, for Chri—er, crying out loud—" he back-pedaled quickly when his dad gave him a warning look. "I don't want Hagrid fired, of course, but surely he should get some sort of reprove or something. I could have died!"

"Yes, I know." His dad sighed sadly, shaking his head. "That's what makes this such a sad affair. A manticore is extremely dangerous, even for Hagrid to keep. Even your Aunt Hermione thinks something should be done, so don't worry about that. Just, well, just try not to get too many more detentions for the rest of the year. I doubt you'll get the same punishment if you do get detention again, but still—"

"Dad," Al said quickly, before he lost his nerve. "You're not too angry about me getting detention, are you?"

To his surprise, and relief, his dad laughed. "No, of course not! Do you have any idea how many detentions I had when I was at Hogwarts?"

"I think I can guess," Al said with a small smile. That was one thing he didn't have to worry about anymore.

After another short pause, and another twinge of pain in his right knee, his dad finally said, "Al, look—I guess I understand the whole wanting to surprise me and your mother about what house you'd been sorted into, but do we have to wait so long? The suspense is rather killing me."

There was another loud bang in the kitchen.

"And Mum?" Al said slowly.

His dad smiled uneasily. "Er, well… yeah, her too. Your grandmother thinks she has it figured out, but she isn't saying anything. Says she'll leave it up to you when to tell us. Although, I suppose if you don't want to say anything right now, could you at least give us a hint?"

Al chuckled softly and shook his head. A part of him really wished he could just come right out and tell his dad, but he was still determined to do what he'd originally planned. He wondered if that was what made him such a Slytherin in the first place. "No, Dad, I'm sorry. I'm sticking to my original plan. You'll just have to wait."

"It's Ravenclaw, isn't it?" Harry said, grinning as if he'd just figured it out. "That's why you're so… you know."

"What?" Al said, nearly laughing aloud.

"Well, you know… strategic. I'm right, aren't I?"

Al did laugh then, but only softly. "You'll just have to wait and see, Dad."

"I bet you I'm right."

"I'll take that bet," said Uncle Ron as he suddenly came into view. Al only saw his legs for a moment and then he was lying in front of the fire next to Harry. "I say that Al's a Hufflepuff, which accounts for him being too embarrassed to tell us."

Harry shook his head. "No way. My son's not a Hufflepuff."

"Oh and how do you figure that?" Uncle Ron said.

"Because Al's not into hard work," Dad smirked.

"Ah, but sometimes there are those Hufflepuffs that seem like they're not hard workers but end up being so," Ron said. He looked straight at Al as he said, "Am I right? You're more into doing work now than you were before, yeah?"

"That depends on what you'd consider hard work," Al said, grinning.

"Al, is that you?" he heard Lily shriek in the background. She then dive-bombed between Dad and Uncle Ron. Both men let out surprised 'oofs' from her sudden weight on them. "How's Hogwarts?" she babbled immediately, ignoring the groans and complains of the men beneath her. "Did you get on the Quidditch team? What's your favourite class so far?"

"Lily, get off," Harry said, grunting. "Blimey, you've gotten heavy."

"Oh thanks a lot, Dad!" Lily huffed.

"Here, sweetheart, just slide in between us," Ron said, budging over. Lily then fell right between them and slotted into place like a jigsaw. She giggled.

"For your information, Lil, first years don't get on the house team," Al said. "I'll have to wait until next year to try-out."

"Awww!" Lily said.

"And secondly, my favourite class so far this year is… well, actually I don't have just one favourite. But my least favourite class would have to be History of Magic."

"Ha! He's a chip off the old block, mate," Ron said to Harry, thumping him on the shoulder.

"Is… is Professor Binns scary?" Lily asked, looking pale. Al felt protective whenever he saw Lily scared or sad, so his brotherly instincts kicked in.

"Not too scary," said Al. "Just really, really, really, really, really—"

Lily's giggles grew and grew the longer Al continued.

"—really, really, really, really…"

"We get it, Al," Harry said.

"Really, really boring," Al finished quickly. Lily buried her face into her hands as she laughed, her ears matching her hair. He could always alleviate her fears or stress with laughter.

"Right," Uncle Ron said. "Since we're betting which house Al's been Sorted into, what should we wager?"

"A Galleon?" Harry suggested.

"Er, I was thinking more like fifteen sickles." Ron then shrugged when Harry's eyebrow rose. "That's all I have on me right now."

"The Christmas hols aren't for another two months. Surely you'll have a Galleon by then."

"Are you calling me poor, Potter?" Ron said with a teasing grin. It was an old joke they shared that no one else seemed to be able to join in on. He'd heard that Uncle Ron and his family used to be really poor and that he'd been a little touchy about it, but nowadays they were pretty well off and their past financial issues was now just something they could joke about. Like how a bad moment at the time didn't seem funny but later it was. Albus had only seen his dad get away with more of the harsher teasing than anyone else.

"No," Harry said without missing a beat. "More like a skin flint."

"Oi, there's nothing wrong with saving money!"

They poked and smacked each other on the shoulder or whatever body part was more assessable, Lily covering her head with her arms as if afraid they might accidentally whack her in their brotherly, pretend spat. By now Al's knees were really hurting and he needed to get back to his common room before Scorpius came looking for him. One of the last things he wanted them to know right now was his friendship with a Malfoy.

"I'd hate to break up this little love fest, but I have to go," he said. Lily giggled again.

"Love fest?" Ron said, mostly in mock outrage.

"Okay, I suppose there's nothing more to say right now," Dad said. "Just don't worry about Hagrid; he'll be fine; or as fine as he could be considering the circumstances. Maybe visit him and make sure he doesn't over-do it with drink."

"And don't get too friendly with the Slytherins," Ron added.

"Right," Al said, frowning. He wasn't looking forward to his Uncle Ron's reaction when he found out the truth.

"Write to us more often," Harry reminded him. "We've gotten more owls from James and Rose than from you."

"I'll write," Al promised.

"Write to me too!" Lily said. Albus smiled.

"I will, Lil Red."

"Try to stay out of trouble," Harry said.

"I will, Dad."

"Have loads of adventures!" Ron added enthusiastically.

"No, don't have loads," Harry said. "Just… be careful."

"What's wrong with having loads of adventures?" Ron said. "We've had plenty of them and we turned out just fine."

Dad and Uncle Ron shared an amused grin.

"Adventures that are safe!" Lily piped in.

"Er, yeah," Dad said. "Something like that."

"I'll be careful, don't worry," Al said. "Well, I'll see you all during the hols, and then you'll see who wins the bet. See you, Dad… love you. See you, Lil."

"Bye, Al!" Lily said. "See you soon, at King's Cross!"

"Love you, Al," Harry said, smiling poignantly. "See you in two months."

Al pulled his head out of the fire before he started to cry like some Hufflepuff.

.-.

A week later, Scorpius got a very oddly shaped gift from his owl. The majority of those at the breakfast table could, of course, tell what it was by the looks of it, even if the packaging was somewhat lumpy.

"No way," Nott said. "It can't be. You're not allowed!"

Excited, and nearly tipping over other people's glasses of pumpkin juice in the process, Scorpius unwrapped his long parcel. It was, indeed, a broomstick.

"It's my birthday gift from my parents," Scorpius said, beaming. "The fastest racing broom on the market this year: the Firebolt 200!"

"I thought those weren't going to come out until the end of the year for the holidays," said Orion.

"My father has connections," Scorpius said proudly.

"There's a note," Al pointed out. Scorpius ripped it open immediately and read it to himself.

"What's it say?" Orion asked. His own owl, Circinus, had given him a letter from home at the same time Scorpius received his broom, but hadn't opened it yet. Circinus helped himself to some of the bacon on Orion's plate.

"Well, I'm not about to divulge in its entire content," Scorpius said. "But basically he says that he's going to try getting me on the team this year, even though it isn't allowed. He may even get the entire team new racing brooms if it'll help."

"Isn't that, well, cheating?" Al said.

"Hey, if your father got on the team all because he was the Chosen One, and because he was a good flyer and that the Gryffindor team was in need of a decent player, then why shouldn't I be allowed? I'm a good flyer, myself, and Slytherin is in need of a good player—"

"We are," one of the Proudfoots said, nodding. "But we're done with tryouts already, and we've been practicing our maneuvers and tactics almost every day since then."

"Yeah," said Proudfoot number two. "It's a done deal. Your father, powerful he may be, won't have the ability to pick new teammates now."

"Well then, kick Thickey off the team!" Scorpius said. "I'll take his place, once Father gets the governors' approval."

"Oi, that's not fair, Malfoy!" Thickey said, charging down one end of the table. He'd been down far enough that no one knew he was there already, but not far down enough that he couldn't hear. "I tried out for Seeker and won fair and square. You can't just get me kicked out because your daddy is a rich bastard!"

The yelling was beginning to attract quite a few onlookers from other tables.

"You've had your turn last year, Thickey," Scorpius said. "It's time you stepped down and let some newer blood in. It's all for the good of the team, after all."

"You're not a better Seeker than me, Malfoy!"

Scorpius stood so that he was now face to face with Thickey. "You best watch what you say, Thickey! My Father—"

"—will get his arse prosecuted by my father if you don't—"

"Ha! Your father wouldn't know the first thing about the inner workings of—"

"—At least MY father doesn't throw money at important officials in order to get them on his side—"

"Your father can only dream of having enough money to—"

"Your father's a bleeding Death Eater!" Thickey shouted suddenly.

The entire Great Hall went dead.

"You'll pay for that," Scorpius growled. He pulled out his wand and aimed it at Thickey.

Thickey laughed. "What're you gonna do, little first year? Tickle me to death?"

"Oi, stop it!" Albus said. He stood from the table and laid a calming hand on Scorpius's arm. "Don't get into any trouble now; your dad won't like that."

The other students weren't the only ones that they drew attention to. Their head of house, Professor d'Eath, came thundering down toward them from the teacher's table.

"That's quite enough now, you two!" he bellowed. "Five points from Slytherin. Now put your wands away and finish your breakfast. Mr Malfoy, hurry up so you can put your broom away. And no one is being replaced on the team. The board of governors do not have the power to change any of the school rules. It is up to Headmistress McGonagall to decide, and I highly doubt she'll go along with your father's request. Now hop to it."

"We'll see who gets on the team in the end," Scorpius said as he, Albus, and Orion leave the Great Hall and head down into the dungeons. "I have as much right to be on it as Harry Potter did."

"Why can't you just wait until next year?" Al said. "Then we can do our tryouts together." When Scorpius was still looking upset, Al placed a warm hand on his shoulder and jostled him in a friendly manner. "Come on, mate, don't let something like this get to you. You need to have more patience. …Besides, I'll be sad that I can't be on the team the same time you are. At least by next year we know they'll need to make a few new replacements. We'll both have a shot at getting on the team then."

Their quick march to the entrance to the Slytherin common room didn't take as much time as usual. Scorpius stood there in front of the gray stone wall and glared at it as if it was what was making him angry in the first place. Behind him, Albus and Orion waited patiently for him to say the password, but he kept standing there glaring.

"Oh, for the love of… Scalawag," Orion said, fed up with his friend's dithering. The stone slab slid open, allowing them inside. Scorpius came out of his stupor enough to step through the hole and slowly headed toward the door that led to the boy's dormitory.

"If you ask me," Orion said to Al quietly as they followed Scorpius a couple feet away, "Mr Malfoy's involvement in this could only end in ruin. If we're patient enough, all three of us could get on the team. I don't understand why Scorpius's father can't wait like the rest of us."

Albus agreed with a nod. He didn't want anything that could make his parents, and the rest of his family, hate the Malfoy family any more than they already did. He'd been hoping to mend a few bridges with his friendship with Scorpius.

TBC